Manual control for knitting machines



Aug. 16,-1938, R. H. LAWSON El AL MANUAL CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINESFiled Nov. 18, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 MMMMZ. Sfi/TYZP, yw

Aug. 16, 1938. R. H. LAWSON ET AL MANUAL CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINESFiled Nov. 1 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 16, 1938. R. H. LAWSON ET AL2,127,179

MANUAL CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 18, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet:5

'Z/I/VEWTWPS' JPJBAEEDYMWJ! MZLM VZ. Spy/75712 Aug. 16, 1938. R. H.LAWSON ET AL 2,127,179

MANUAL CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 18, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet4 6, 1938. R. H. LAWSON ET AL 79 MANUAL CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINESFiled Nov. 18, 1936 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 m y o \9 E333 L IIIIIIH f/I/IE/YTWPS FflfiZRZYZMSMY Mam/ 1 lay/754722 Aug. 16, 1938. R. H. LAWSON ElAL MANUAL CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 18, 1936 7Sheets-Sheet 6 JI/I E/I/YWRS- 2055571 [AH SM;

mil/XML Jamm e A'TTfJ T IP IIIII llll l 6N JUNK Aug. 16, 1938. R. H.LAWSON ET AL MANUAL CONTROL FOR KNITTING MACHINES '7 Sheets-Shet 7 FiledNov. 18, 1936 F 2.. \\/A .J/ mr mr NQ 1. +1. Mr m a ain/Myra QI/I/EzMMLS/y/mwz; 76 2? 1 Patented Aug. 16, 1938 i g V 'UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 2,121,119 I MANUAL CONTROL roaxm'rrmo momma Robert H.Lawson and William L. Smith, Jr.,

Pawtucket, R. L, aasignors to Hemphill Company, Central Falls, R. L, acorporation of Massachusetts Application November 18,- 1936, Serial No.111,470

In Canada January 20, 1936 I 14 Claims. 4 (Cl. c s-s) 'Ihe invention ofthis case deals with hand Fig. 14 is a detail of this same right handwheel control of knitting machines, for instance end of the machine butshowing parts in their mu1ti-feed knitting-machines whereinconsidinoperative position. erable eflort is necessary on the part ofthe ma In multi-feed knitting machines; especially chine operator toturn the moving parts of the those employing a relatively great numberof 5 machine by hand as is necessary at certain times. feeding stations,it is necessary to employ hand Among the objects of the invention arethe pro- .wheel mechanism for operating the machine vision of suitablereduction gearing whereby manually. This hand wheel drive must providelarge sized machines may be easily operated by sufficient reduction toallow the machine operhand, mechanism which provides adequate ator toturn the mechanism of the entire masafety for the protection of themachine operachine while exerting a reasonable amount of tor and adevice which is automatically diseneffort. It is also essential that thehand wheel gaged upon power operation of the machine control or controlsbe conveniently located and thereby to prevent any. damage of themachine that the hand wheels themselves be of a conin the event ofcarelessness on the part of the venient size so as not to take up toomuch space 5 operator. at the side of the machine. Contrary to a In thedrawings: more or less common practice on hosiery ma- Fig. 1 is afragmentary, plan view of as much chines, it is absolutely necessarythat the hand of a multi-feed knitting machine as is necessary wheelcontrol for these multi-feed machines be to illustrate the applicationof hand wheel condisengaged from driving connection with the 20 trolthereto; machine at the instant said machine is started Fig. 2 is anelevation, on a relatively enlarged under its own power; otherwise, asthe mascale, illustrating the hand wheel drive of Fig. 1 chine wasrotated under its own power it would in greater detail; 4 drive the handwheel (providing it could drive Fig. 3 is a section taken through thespindle that hand wheel, which in most instances it 25 looking to theleft, Fig. 2; could not due to the type of gearing employed) Fig. 4 is asectional view showing the worm at a. rate of speed which wouldconstitute a in engagement with the ring gear of the machine; seriousmenace to the safety of anyone about Fig. 5 is an elevation showing amodified form the machine. For this reason the hand wheel of theinvention; control must be easily engageable when a ma- 30 Fig. 6 is asection illustrating the manner in chine operator desires to turn themachine by which the spindle as shown in, Fig. 5 may be hand but must bepositively and automatically locked in an inactive position; disengagedthe instant the machine is started Fig. 7 is a section showing themanner in under its own power. It is a further characterwhich the worm,Fig. 5, would engage the drivistic of the mechanisms herein shown thatthey 35 ing gear of a knitting machine; are practically incapable ofbeing accidentally Fig. 8 illustrates a second modified form of theengaged during automatic operation of the mainvention wherein a singlehand wheel conveys chine, and even if they were, would merely motion tothe driving gear of the machine be returned to inactive position in thesame through a worm, worm gear and an intermediate way in which theywere returned to that posi- 40 spur gear; tion at the starting of themachine.

9 is a section on Fig- 't en hr ugh h Referring to Figs. 1-4 a form ofdrive has worm gear, spur gear and interconnecting hub; been illustratedin which a worm is employed Fig. 10 is an elevation illustrating thedevice to engage a driving gear of the knitting machine as seen from theface of the hand wheel; at such times as the operator desires to turn it45 Fig. 11 is an elevation of another form of the by hand by merelyrocking the hand wheel drive invention showing the drive in operativeposie or drives into an engaging position, rotating the tion and, in thedotted lines, some parts in an hand wheel to first take up slack andthen for inoperative position; the purpose of turning the machinethroughout Fig. 12 is a detail, partly in section, showing such anextent as is desired, it then being a 0 the driving shaft inaninoperative position; function of the device itself to be moved backFig. 13 is a section taken through the right to initial inactiveposition upon automatic ophand end of the drive of Fig. 11, and showingeration-of the machine under power. The mathe shaft in position fordriving the machine chine illustrated has a circular base I, a rotatby hnd; and able needle cylinder 2 having attached thereto tion to thecylinder, the drives would of course rotate the cams and not thecylinder. On the largestmachine it is found to be of advantage toprovide duplicate hand wheel control at both sides of the machine and toprovide each control with a hand wheel at either end. This pro- -videsan operator with four different wheels spaced about the machine so thathe can normally reach one wheel while working at any positionadjacent-the machine and this is found to be a time saver as well as agreat convenience when it is desired to watch the functioning of anyparticular part of the machine and at the same time to slowly turn themachine by hand. If for any reason the machine turns especially hard asis often the case with new machines lust assembled, more than one personmay use the free to turn. Each of the angular elements 6 has anextension ll within which 'is threaded an adjusting screw l2 maintainedin any adjusted position by means of locking nut l3. This adjustingscrew strikes against a projection ll cast onto one side of each of theforked brackets l and provides an adjustable stop to limit the swin ofeach element 6 in a direction to move spindle l0 and worm i5 fromdriving position. The worm i5 is fixed to spindle Ill at about itsmidpoint by means of a taper pin or by any other suitable retainingmeans and said spindle is further maintained in proper relative positionby means of collars l6 which, of course, may be adjusted along thelength' of the spindle for the purpose of positioning parts in exactworking relationship. A ball thrust bearing 16' is interposed betweenbearing-9 and collar It at one end of the spindle. At least one of theforked ends of one of the element 6 is provided with an adjusting screwll maintained by a locking nut l8 which screw bears against a lug l9.This adjusting screw stops the movement of elements 8, the spindle Illand worm l5 when the worm has been rocked into complete engagement withring gear 3 and serves to take the thrust as the hand wheel drive isused to rotate the machine. A hand wheel 20 having a grip 2| is fixed ateach end ofspindle Ill.

It is obvious that only one of the extensions I I need be provided withan adjustable stop screw and that only one stop screw I! would sufficeto permit satisfactory operation of the drive, but in the preferredembodiment of the invention we employ two of these stopping screws I'Iwithin one of the forked ends of both elements 8 and a screw l2 inboth'extensions II. A guard 22 has been provided which covers a part ofring gear I and worm I! at the position illustrated but is not anessential element except for purposes of safety and appearance.

We have illustrated in Fig. 2 a full line position of all elementswherein the drive is shown in active position. Certain. fragments of thespindle worm, collars a'nd bearings have been shown 4 spindle l0 and therest of the mechanism to the left, Fig. 2, until the worm engages theteeth of gear 3, and by turning the hand wheel until stopping screws I'Istrike abutments 19, that the mechanism becomes effective to rotate themachine. These parts'are only maintained in that position as long as theoperator continues to turn the hand wheel in a direction to rotate themachine or until the machine is started; the instant the machine isstarted, ring gear 3 will merely move worm i5, spindle III, etc., backto the dotted line or inactive position. The hand wheel will not beturned by the machine during this disengaging movement and in the eventone should attempt to engage the hand wheel drive during automaticoperation of the machine, teeth of gear lwould merely return the driveto the inactive position in which said drive would normally remain underthe influence of gravity.

Now referring to Figs. 5, 6 and '7, a modification of the invention hasbeen illustrated in which a spindle 23 having a worm 2t fixed thereto is.both slidable and capable of rotating in bearings 25 formed as a partof brackets 26 suitably secured to the lower edge of the circular basei. This spindle 23 may have a hand wheel at one end or preferably atboth ends similar to the construction shown in Figs. 1-4. The worm 24engages a bevel gear 21 attached to the rotating part of the knittingmachine, which gear may be of the typeshown in Fig. 4 or might be a spuror any other gear suitable for the purpose;

the principle of the invention would not be altered thereby. A collar 28is fixed by means of set screw 29 to the spindle and maintains a ballthrust bearing 30 in position to engage against one end of the bearing25 atthe right, Fig. 5, when the hand wheel assembly is pushed to theoperative position shown in full lines in that wheels to the left, Fig.5, until the worm engages the teeth of gear 21 and then to turn thewheel until thrust bearing 30 engages against the bearing 25. Furtherturning of the hand wheel will cause the needle cylinder or otherrotating element of the kniting machine to advance in a forwarddirection. When the machine is started under its own power this handwheel assembly will be moved to the dot and dash line position of Fig.5, this movement being in a direction tangential to the pitch circle ofthe ring gear and depending upon the size of the ring ear, will have tobe enough to assure that the worm 24 moves safely beyond a positionwhere it would engage any of the teeth of the gear.

When moved to inoperative position the assembly will be held in thatposition against any for in that direction.

inadvertent movement by means of a latch 3i engaging a groove 32 in thespindle. This latch 3! is pivoted at 33 and is held downwardly-againstthe spindle by means of a spring 34' attached at one end to the latchand at the other end to a pin 33 as shown. A collar 33 attached to theend of the left hand bearing 2!. P18. 5, has a slot 31 within which thelatch 3| works. This slotted collar assists the screw 33 and latch 31 inovercoming the thrust of the spindle and attached parts when any attemptis made to push it into operative position without first lifting thelatch; thus said latch functions as a safety device against inadvertentuse of the worm 24 and ring gear 21. As the assembly is'moved toinactive position latch 3| will snap into the groove and prevent thespindle and attached parts from moving too A guard 33 is attached to thebase I and encloses the worm and part of the spindle.

Referring to Figs. 8, 9 and 10 another form of the invention has beenillustrated wherein a hand wheel works through a worm and worm gear torotate an intermediate gear or pinion which engages the ring gear forrotatingthe machine. To the circular base I we have attached by suitableconnecting means a plate 39 which has a boss or hub 43 projectingdownwardly therefrom.

The spindle 4l having a head 42 is inserted within this boss and is heldfrom rotating therein by means of a pin 43. The said spindle serves as abearing upon which bracket 44 having two arms 45 and-43 is free toswing. Hand wheel 41 having a grip 43 is fixed to a short shaft 48 whichprojects through a bearing in bracket 44 and has a worm 50 keyed orotherwise attached in such a way it will not rotate thereon at the otherend of the spindle. A pin 5| passes through the ends of arms 45 and 43to provide a bearing upon which a hub 52 may rotate, this hub havingformed integral therewith a worm gear 53 and a pinion 54. A spring 55 isattached to a pin 56 on one arm of the bracket and to any projectingelement such as a pin 51 attached to plate 39 so that said bracket andthe forked arms with the attached hand wheel, worm, worm gear and pinionwill normally be moved to such a position that pinion 54 will not engagea ring gear 58 which rotates the cylinder or other rotating element ofthe machine.

Whenever the operator desires to turn the machine by hand, it is onlynecessary for'him to grip the hand wheel and swing it from the dotand'dash line position of Fig. 8 to such a position that the teeth ofthe pinion engage those of the ring gear, then to turn the hand wheeluntil said teeth have become fully engaged whereupon the recessed end 59of arm 46 strikes against the edge of base I. oil! in such a way thatproper intermeshing of the pinion and gear will be realized. Wheneverthe machine is started under its own power pinion 54 and the entireswinging hand wheel assembly will be moved to inoperative position andwill be held in that position by means of the spring 55. A casing orguard 60 enclosing all parts except the hand wheel has been attached toplate 39 and is provided with a slot 6| through which spindle 49projects, this slot being of sumcient size to allow the swinging of thewheel from operative to inoperative position and vice versa.

Now referring to Figs. 11-14, we will describe another form of theinvention wherein the drive is disengaged by sliding of the shaft andworm,

and, at the same time, accompanying this sliding This recess 59 may beground movement by lowering one end of the shaft. The b e i, drivinggear 3 for rotating the cylinder a d a guard 22 correspond to equivalentparts in the first two forms of the invention described. A shaft orspindle 62 has fixed thereon a worm 63 which may be meshed with gear 3and upon rotation of the shaft and worm by a suitable crank or handwheel, will drive gear 2 and other parts of the machine. This shaft 32is rotatably guided at one end within a bearing 64 formed in extensionof-a bracket 65 which is in turn permanently fixed to the circular baseof the machine l. This shaft carries collars 63 and 31 both adjustablysecured along the length of the shaft by suitable set screws or otherattaching means. A thrust bearing 68 is provided between collar 68 andthe bearing 64 and serves the same purpose as bearingv 30, Fig. 5. Thisshaft 62 must be capable of sliding 'and rocking to a limited extentwithin the bearing 64, and for this reason, that bearing will be formedwith a certain amount of play for rocking the shaft as shown in Figs. 11and 12.

Now referring to the right hand end of Fig. II and to Figs. 13 and 14, abracket generally indicated by numeral 69 is attached to the undersideof the circular base. This bracket is constructed in such a manner thatit presents a depending forked portion 10 and H at either side of theshaft and a web 12, these forked ends 10 and H and the web 12 preventingmovement sidewise and also restricting the upward movement of the shaftas shown. The said shaft has an elongated coliar 13 attached in theposition shown in Figs. 11, 13 and 14 and which bears within thebracket, this collar also serving as an abutment to throw the shaft andworm into active position, but will allow the same to rock or swingdownwardly upon starting of the machine under power.

Each of these arms Iii, Ii is cored out to provide an opening 14 and aslot at the bottom of that opening within which is pivoted means forraising the spindle 62 to level position and which will allow it to dropto the dotted line position of Fig. 11 when desired. This mechanismconsists of a rectangular block 15, projections at either side thereoffor engagement within the bearing slots, a crank arm 16 and small handleH. In the position of Figs. 11 and 13, the crank has been turned toupper position whereupon the rectangular block 15 has raised thespindle, and thru collar 13, has pushed the same to the left, Fig. 11 toengage the worm with the gear. As the spindle is raised and tends toslide to the left, it will be necessary to turn the hand wheel slightlyto mesh the worm and gear until thrust bearing 68 moves up against thestationary bearing 64. In that position the hand wheel may be used torotate the machine as long as desired.

When the machine is again started under power, the gear 3 still meshingwith the worm will cause it and shaft 62 to move to the right whereuponelement 15 will be tripped to allow the right hand end of the shaft tofollow as shown in dotted lines, Fig 11, and further in Fig. 14. From aninspection of Figs. 11-14 it can be seen that the center about whichcrank 16 turns is offset with respect to the center line of therectangular block 15.

This prevents the weight of shaft 62, worm 63 etc. accidentally trippingthe block and disengaging the driving mechanism. This particular form ofthe invention comprises the advantages of forms numbered I and 2 butprovides a very simple way for rocking one end of the shaft downwardlyand at the same time, sliding that shaft along its length until thedriving worm has ufactured than that of either of the other forms.

It is to be understood that any one of the modifications of handoperating mechanism may be used singly on a multi-feed or other knittingmachine or that several may be used on the same machine. The handoperating mechanism may be used on multi-feed machines or on any otherknitting or textile machines wherein it is deslrable to manipulate themachine by hand and to have positive actuating mechanism which will beautomatically disengaged but which can not be accidentally moved toactive position to cause any damage to the machine or to injure anyemployee who is working on the machine. The invention has been describedin more or less speciiic terms for purposes of illustration only, and weare not to be limited except by the scope of the attached claims.

We claim:

1. In a knitting machine of the type described, a driven element and aring gear for driving the same, manually operated driving meansincluding a worm engageable for driving said driven element through thegear, said worm being automatically disengaged upon power operation ofthe machine.

2. In a knitting machine a driven element, a ring gear for driving saidelement, and driving means for engaging said ring gear including gearingcapable of driving said ring gear but incapable of being driven by thering gear, said gearing being engageable with the ring gear at will andautomatically desengaged therefrom when the machine is started underpower.

3. In a knitting machine the combination of a driven element and a ringgear for driving the same, manually operated driving means for the ringgear including a shaft, a hand wheel and bearings for said shaft, meansdriven from said shaft to engage and drive the ring gear, said meansbeing manually engageable with the ring gear, but positively disengagedfrom the ring gear upon power operation of the machine.

4. In a knitting machine the combination of a driven element and a ringgear attached thereto, manually operated means for driving said ringgear so constructed and operated that it may be engaged with the ringgear at will but will automatically disengage upon power operation ofthe machine and will remain in disengaged position throughout the periodof power operation.

5. A knitting machine having in combination a driven element and a ringgear attached thereto, means for manually-driving the ring gear andelement including a shaft, means thereon for engaging the driving andring gear, bearings for said shaft being pivotally mounted in a pair ofswinging elements, said swinging elements being capable of maintainingthe shaft and driving means in a position to engage and drive the ringgear but being movable upon power operation of the machine to a positionwherein the ring gear will not be engaged by the driving means.

6. In a knitting machine of the type described, the combination of adriven element and a ring gear attached thereto for driving the same, apair of brackets attached to said machine, swinging members pivoting onthe bracket and stopping means to limit movement of the swinging membersin both directions, bearings on the swinging members and a shaftrotatable in said bearings, a hand wheel fixed to the shaft and a wormon the shaft for engaging the ring gear, whereby said hand wheel, shaftand worm may be rocked into a position to drive the ring gear and drivenelement and may be moved to inactive position upon power operation ofthe machine.

7. In a knitting machine the combination of a driving element and a ringgear attached thereto, bearings attached to the machine and a shaftrotatable and slidable within said bearings, a hand wheel on said shaftand driving means fixed thereto, means 'on the shaft for limitingsliding movement in one direction'in which position the driving means onthe shaft will engage the ring gear before mentioned whereby the machinemay be manually operated, but upon power operation of said shaft,driving means and hand wheel will be moved axially of the bearings untilsaid driving means disengages from the hand wheel.

8. A knitting machine having in combination a driven element and a ringgear attached thereto, bearings attached to the machine and a. shaftarranged to slide and to rotate in said bearings, a hand wheel on saidshaft and a worm fixed thereon for engagement with said ring gear, acollar on the shaft for limitingits movement in one direction and safetymeans functioning to limit movement of the shaft in the other directionand also to prevent its return except at the will of the machineoperator.

9. A knitting machine having in combination a driven element and a ringgear attached thereto, bearings attached to the machine and .a shaftarranged to slide and to rotate in said bearings, a hand wheel on saidshaft and a worm fixed thereon for engagement with the ring gear, acollar on the shaft for limiting its movement in one direction andsafety means functioning upon said shaft including a groove forpreventing the return of said shaft and driving means into en- Eagementwith the ring gear except upon release of the latch by the machineoperator.

10. In a knitting machine the combination of a driving element and aring gear attached thereto, hand operated means for driving the elementthrough the ring gear at desired intervals including a shaft and a wormthereon, said shaft and worm being movable tangentially of the gear toand from active position and means for limiting the movement of saidshaft and worm in either direction.

11. In a knitting machine, the combination of a driven element and aring gear for driving the same, manually operated driving means for thering gear including a shaft, 9. hand wheel and bearings for said shaft,a worm on said shaft engageable with said ring gear, the constructionbeing such that said shaft is slidable within its bearings and alsocapable of being rocked about one of the bearings as a pivot thereby todisengage the worm from the ring gear.

12. In a knitting machine, a driven element and aring gear for drivingthe same, manually operated driving means for said ring gear including ashaft, a worm, a hand wheel for turning said shaft and bearings withinwhich said shaft may turn, one of said bearings providing for thesliding of said shaft lengthwise thereof, and the other of said bearingscomprising means for restraining the shaft in a position wherein theworm may engage the gear but allowing that end of the shaft to belowered, the combined sliding and lowering of the shaft resulting indisengagement of the worm from the gear.

13. In a knitting machine, a driven element and a ring gear for drivingthe same, manually operated driving means for said ring gear including ashaft, a hand wheel. a worm on the shaft for engagement with the ringgear, bearing means within which the shaft may rotate, said bearingmeans being constructed to allow a combined sliding and rocking movementto be imparted to said shaft thereby to disengage the worm from thegear.

14. In a knitting machine, a driven element for driving the same,manually operated means for driving said ring gear including a shaft, aworm fixed to said shaft for engagement with the gear,

a hand wheel for rotating the shaft, 9. bearing at one end of said shaftwithin which it may rotate, collars on said shaft to allow slidingmovement of the shaft within the bearing, but to limit the extent ofsaid sliding movement, bearing means for said shaft at the opposite endincluding means for restraining the shaft laterally and other means forraising and lowering that end of the shaft and locking it in raisedposition.

ROBERT H. LAWSON. WILLIAM L. SMITH, JR.

